Chapter 1

BOOM!

The crack of the lightning crashing into the ground next to her brought her crashing back to reality. The heat wave washed over her, causing sweat to break out all over her body. Her eyes snapped to the source desperately, trying to read her movements. The princess, to her credit, was unreadable, although Katara didn't know whether that was on purpose, or because of the insanity in her stance. Her mouth was curled up in a crazy grin, eyes boring into Katara like she was trying to stare her to death.

"I'd rather the family physician took care of him, peasant." She laughed, and the sound was truly terrifying, freezing Katara in place. That terror was soon replaced with panic, as Azula's arms thrust forward, and a roaring burst of blue flame rushed towards her. She was barely able to throw herself to the left of it, and the mere heat caused pain to sprout all along her right arm. She stuck the landing, managing to stay on her feet, but she couldn't stop yet. Already another burst of flame was on the way. She spun around and took off, running as fast as she could for the cover of the nearby pillars. Azula kept up her assault., sending more and more fire at the retreating girl. She managed to make it, barely, sinking down the pillar as the flame parted around it. With a second to breath, she looked around for a source of water. Luckily enough, a fountain just to the left of the courtyard was just what she needed. Standing up, she took control of it and as she stepped out from behind the pillar, she hurled it full speed at the princess.

She was no longer there.

Eyes wide, Katara turned around, just in time to see her foe drop down from the roof, the grin still on her face. Her arms thrust forward again, and Katara, in desperation, bent as much water as she could, moving it in front of her. The flame crashed into it, unleashing a torrent of steam, and Katara felt her heart leap into her chest as it finally fizzled out, mere moments from roasting her alive. Leaning down to scoop up some water, she lathered it on her right arm, sighing as the water worked its magic. She didn't have time to heal though. Azula emerged from the pillars, looking slightly less happy. Her hands were completely aflame, and her eyes never wavered from Katara's.

"Just give up already, and I'll kill you quickly." She paused for emphasis, then continued. "You don't want to see the alternative."

Katara didn't even bother replying. Waving her arm, the water on the ground hardened, and as she stepped on, she willed it to move her faster. She shot across it, heading as far away from the firebender as she could. She could hear the angry groan from behind her, and a second later, heard the roar of the flames. She waved her arms, the ice abruptly curving to the left. Behind her, the ice was demolished, Azula's flame melting it instantly. The hit caused her to falter, and the water in front of her dropped to the ground. She leaped off the ice, barely managing to stick the landing. Her hands shot out in front of her to take the impact, and with a grunt, her body slammed into the ground.

C'mon Katara. She scolded herself. You can't give up now!

She pushed off with her hands, feeling her muscles complain. It'd been a while since she'd had to fight so hard, and her body was not enjoying the strain. Still, Zuko needed her. She had to win. Whatever it cost.

Azula seemed to have lost focus. She was still in the courtyard, seemingly distracted. Katara ducked behind another pillar, running through solutions to the problem in front of her. Clearly, Azula would not be beaten by force. Not today. The only chance she'd have was to get close, where she could fight Azula hand to hand. But beating Azula in a physical fight like that wouldn't be easy. In fact, it might be damn near impossible. She'd relied so much on her bending to fight that, without it, she was helpless. She'd always figured that was other people's specialties. A pang of guilt shot through her.

I'm sorry Zuko…

But as soon as the thought came, new determination filled her body. She had to win. There was no other choice. And right now, the best way she could do that was by taking her chances in close quarters. She peeked out from behind the pillar again, trying not to draw Azula's attention. The courtyard however, was empty again. She didn't even bother to look this time. Throwing herself forward, she heard and felt the lightning smash into the spot she was just standing. There was a strange cracking sound, but she ignored it, focusing on bringing all the nearby water to her. She turned with her new arsenal, ready to stop the next burst of flame, but as Azula walked out from the rubble, she realised that she'd made a horrible mistake.

Azula's fingers crackled with energy. Her arms flowed back and forth as she gathered it into her body. Katara looked around, hoping for some small bit of cover she could duck behind, but there was nothing. She was in the open. The water that she'd gathered splashed onto the floor, leaving puddles everywhere. Seeing her enemy giving up, Azula laughed again, a sound that sounded more like a sick bird than a human. But as she stood, awaiting the end, a crazy idea formed in her head.

She'd watched as Zuko had taught Aang to redirect the lightning. He'd said something along the lines of it being a waterbender technique that Iroh had come up with. She couldn't remember exactly how it went, but she had to try. Thinking hard, she tried to remember everything she could. Zuko had said something about letting it flow through your body, like water, but much more dangerous. There was a part in there about not letting it go through your heart, but apart from that, she couldn't remember. However, she was out of time. Azula let loose, pointing her fingers towards Katara, and the lightning in her body leapt forward. Mimicking the stance she'd seen Zuko do before, Katara pushed her hand forward, catching the lightning on her fingertips.

He hadn't said anything about the pain. As the energy filled her body, Katara felt as if she was burning up from the inside. She staggered back, desperately trying to control the flow through her. She realized far too late that lightning was nothing like water. You couldn't control the energy, instead, you could only guide it through you. She gritted her teeth as she felt it move down, away from her heart. She could do this. She could do this. Finally, she could feel it start to move up her right arm. Pointing her arm in a random direction, she screamed as it left, and the pain gave way to a wracking sense of relief. She fell to her hands and knees as the lightning crashed into the same pillar, sending a shock throughout the entire structure.

"Well, well." A voice from nearby said. Katara didn't look up, but it was clear that she had that same grin on her face. She was still itching for more and Katara was out of options. Azula moved closer, musing on what to do with the girl. Death seemed like the most obvious one, but from what she'd seen, Zuko really cared about this girl. Maybe she could keep her, as an incentive to keep Zuko in line. Or maybe, she could just keep her for herself. She was in need of some new servants. She came to a stop in front of the peasant, standing tall above her. The waterbender didn't even look up, clearly intimidated. She smirked, feeling the rush of power.

"I really don't want to kill you. But unfortunately, there isn't anything else I can do." She told her, but still the girl didn't look up. Angry, she knelt down and grabbed her by the chin.

"At least face your death with some dignity." She snarled, and let the girl see her hand as it ignited. She brought the hand closer, preparing to slam her fist into her heart. Before she could, however, the girl finally spoke.

"I'm sorry…" She whispered, and Azula frowned, taken off-guard.

"You're apologizing to me?" She asked, confused. But Katara shook her head.

"I'm sorry that you'll miss your chance to be the Fire Lord." She said, as she brought her right hand in a swift slicing motion, slamming it into Azula's chest.

Azula didn't even have time to feel the attack, as something slammed into her left side. Caught off balance, she was sent flying, crashing into the ground with a painful oof. She gritted her teeth in pain as she forced herself up as quick as she could, fire erupting from her palms. She turned back towards Katara, fists raised, ready to attack. The girl was simply standing there, arms outstretched towards her. Despite everything, Azula hesitated, and looked back.

Behind her, the water that had flowed through the sewers was building up. She brought her fists around, trying to send a burst of flame into the mass of water, but before her arm could make it, the water slammed into her again, completely encasing her. Katara rushed forward, grabbing the chain lying off to the side. As Azula tumbled towards her, she grabbed her arms and, with one swift motion, wrapped the chain around them and the nearest grate. Before Azula even had a chance to recover, Katara pulled on the chain, forcing her down to her knees. Her eyes wild, she thrashed around, trying desperately to hurt the waterbender. But she wasn't there anymore.

Katara ran as fast as her legs would allow, bringing the water from her bag out and letting it flow around her hand. Her eyes focused on Zuko as he lay there, clutching at his chest. She felt her heart sink as she watched him weakly move around. She hoped she wasn't too late. She roughly fell at his side, bringing her hand onto his chest as soon as she had her footing. She breathed in and out, trying to calm down as she moved it back and forth, gently rubbing her hand over the wound. Zuko's face was gritted in pain, his eyes scrunched shut, trying to keep from crying out, but as she worked her magic, he visibly relaxed, and Katara felt her heart soar as she noticed. He was going to make it. They had won.

As she kneeled there by his side, she slowly became more aware of the relative silence of the area. The people who'd been in the middle of coronating Azula were nowhere to be seen, and apart from the cries of the restrained princess, there was nothing else making much noise. It was surprisingly calm, considering how close she'd come to death. The leftover fires from the Agni Kai had been reduced to mere embers, and the fountain that she'd drawn the water from was, unsurprisingly, empty. She wondered when the last time she'd been able to sit in this kind of peaceful silence had been. She'd really missed it. Travelling with the others was great and all, but they were a busy group. There hadn't been an actual break since before Ba Sing Se had fallen. She shook her head in disbelief. It's a wonder they didn't go insane.

Zuko's moans brough her attention back. She moved the water back on the wound, placing her other hand on his head. He sighed in satisfaction, opening his eyes and weakly smiling at her.

"Thank you" He said, his voice just above a whisper. She smiled back down at him.

"I should be thanking you." She told him gently.

She helped him get to his feet. The wound was bad, but she'd managed to heal him enough to be walking around. She figured he probably wanted to see his sister before anything else. She may be a crazy monster, but family has a way of sticking to you, especially when you don't want them to. She threw his arm around his shoulder as they walked slowly towards the cries of Azula. As they came closer, she noticed them and tried desperately to move around, to escape. But the chains were done too tight, and she winced in pain as they dug into her wrists. Katara looked up at Zuko, wondering what he was feeling. His face was stony, regarding his sister with a cool glare. They stood there like that for a few minutes, and Katara hoped he'd make his mind up soon. He was getting kind of heavy. Finally, he broke the silence.

"She was a monster. She spent most of her life, tormenting me, hurting me, hurting those I cared about." He said, in his raspy, serious voice.

"But…she's still my sister." He continued, his voice quieter. "Thank you."

Katara looked at him weirdly.

"For what?" She asked. He looked down at her, a small smile on his lips.

"For sparing her. I owe you." Katara stifled a laugh, not wanting to break the seriousness of the moment. Instead, she helped Zuko over to a nearby bench, taking a seat beside him. The two watched on as Azula eventually burned away the last of her strength. Her body finally gave out, and she collapsed, her breathing heavy, but still alive. Katara had never thought she'd feel sorry for Azula, the one who'd come so close to killing Aang, but watching her lie there, completely and utterly defeated, it was hard not to run over and undo her bindings. She looked so sad, so lonely. Katara wondered if maybe, in a different life, they could have been friends. But now wasn't the time for those questions.

"Are you okay?" She asked Zuko, who promptly nodded.

"Yeah, I am. Let's go finish this" He said, his voice more confident, more like the Zuko she was used to. Katara smiled, feeling lighter than she had ever felt before.

"Yeah. Let's go put an end to this war"